Darcy Ungaro: The intelligent and the lazy investor

Helping others find their own fat fish. Photo / 123RF

COMMENT:

While some people are happy throwing hand lines off the end of Devonport Pier, or wandering down rivers trying to get enough whitebait to make a single breakfast patty, Cole is out at sea looking to land a Marlin big enough to feed him for a year.

Cole provides investors with a new perspective, potentially at odds with everyone's favourite Warren Buffett quotes.

"I don't see a mainstream counter argument to diversification anywhere," said Cole.

And it's true. Read any newspaper column, most financial pages, and have a chat with any rich uncle and they're all probably going to be espousing the same 'wisdoms'. But is investing in passive funds and ETFs really going to build the kind of wealth you're looking for?

Cole's first big fat fish was actually his first investment, Nintendo. He'd long been addicted to the product, which was the hook to dive deeper into the company, and then the investment opportunity.

He's now on a quest now to help others find their own fat fish.

"To me it's a tragic comedy where you have people open up their apple laptop, log in through chrome, and binge Netflix as a way to ignore their money stresses. Those are three of the most successful stocks of our time."

Your best bet for a first stock investment should always be something you're passionate or 'addicted' to. Is there something like Netflix that has you so completely wrapped up in its arms every night? Isn't that a good sign something is rather promising about a company?

It's a reminder for me of the fact that I still do not own a single Tesla share. I own the car, and I've known for quite some time that EV's are the future, but some invisible, procrastinating force meant I never pulled the trigger on actually buying any stock.

"Informed optimism allows you to take bold informed action while the world is paralysed. It's the most overlooked asset in an investor's tool box"

And it might just be true.

So this is where it gets real for and for me - are you in pursuit of alpha (better than the market) or just the average? Do you think Jeff Bezos believed in diversification or concentration? Going 100 per cent all in on just two or three stocks doesn't sit right with many of us in the investment community, but here's where we look at what those with wealth have actually done. The benefits of getting your nose out of yet another Forbes analysis and actually putting your money where your brain is, is a pretty compelling argument.

- Darcy Ungaro is an authorised financial adviser and host of the NZ Everyday Investor Podcast.